Chantilly, Darragh Kenny’s fairy tale

In the fairy tale setting of Chantilly, spectators dreamt of the French national anthem. And they had reason to as Pénélope Leprevost on her flying Vancouver Lanlore were qualified for the jump-off. First to go in the second round, Darragh Kenny put a lot of pressure on his opponents. Winner two weeks ago in the CSI5* of Knokke, the Irish crossed the finishing line clear on 37’’54. With three representants, Belgium had high hopes to win this leg. First of them, Christophe Vanderhasselt on Identity Vitseroel, in 39“80, finished in fifth position. Winner last year, Nicola Philippaerts and his reliable H&M Chilli Willi had to settle for the third place this year. “My horse jumped very good over all three rounds –  I tried to give my everything but it was such a quick jump-off. Chilli really likes the ring here, he loves the big arena and grass. I always love coming here, it really is a fantastic event. I went early on, I got to see Darragh jump and I tried to leave a few strides out to be able to go as quick but naturally I think my horse is a little slower in nature”, explained the rider. As for Grégory Wathelet he ended at the sixth position after a disobedience of MJT Nevados.

Fourth in the final ranking, France’s Kevin Staut did a great job with his new mare Urhelia Lutterbach. This performance in their first Grand Prix together is auspicious for the future. Last but not least in the jump-off, Pénélope Leprevost gave everything on Vancouver Lanlore. But, despite all the support of the spectators, it was not fast enough. “I am very happy with my horse today. Last year he jumped his first five star Grand Prix here and I had one down, so this year he really has improved. I used to be so slow but now I’m not so slow! I am very happy but I didn’t do one less stride as it was a combination. If I could do it again I would try!”, confessed the rider.

Darragh’s win secured his golden ticket to the Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix at the Global Champions Playoffs in Prague in November, and he said: “I am definitely very relieved. The qualification for Prague is amazing. I really wanted to win it. Prague was an incredible event, one of the best shows I have ever been to. It was run fantastically. To have the opportunity to compete for that kind of prize money and prestige is amazing.”

Full results :  here